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Union of Blood
"There will be blood," my Krin-Father told me when I left towards Halshaa. I should have taken his words more seriously. We all grew up hearing the stories about The Lords of War. How violent they were, how quick they were to kill one another, how they crushed the Helbin in a storm of fury and steel. My Krin-Mother would often talk of the Lords in a hushed whisper, as if she was afraid they would hear her from the other side of the galaxy and descend upon her in a rage. I saw one, once. Only for a second, riding inside the transport of one of the Great Administrators. I think it saw me, too, making eye contact with me just for a second before displaying its teeth in what I was sure a threat that it would eat me. I told my Krin-Mother about this. We stayed up the entire night as she recited blessings of the The Two to ward off the Lord of War's curse. When our careers were assigned, I was chosen to be an ambassador. This suited me well, as I always enjoyed traveling. Then I was told my first mission would be to run right into the arms of the Lords of War. I was to travel to Halshaa, to talk to the government of the Lords, and to witness some great political change that was to take place there. I was given a hundred blessings, a cargo full of tribute to placate the Lords, and a diplomatic ship. The entire way there, I cursed my luck, asked The Two why they had forsaken me, why they cast me out to the monsters. Several days later, we arrived at Halshaa. One of the homeworlds of the Lords of War, the serpents. Immediately after the decontamination protocols were finished and the doors hissed open, the smell of blood hit me like an asteroid. A mammal Lord of War stood in front of me, holding a datapad in one appendage. It looked up at me, predatory, forward facing eyes piercing my soul. “You Vishtsook?” The smell of blood was so strong that I could only cough in response. “What's wrong?” it asked. “Blood!” I cried, “Something's covered in blood!” It scratched its head. “What?” “You don't smell it? Something's been ripped open!” One of the serpent Lord of War called out from the other side of the starpad, waving something in its claws. “Hey, Jack! I think he's talking about my sandwich!” When it stopped waving, I nearly passed out in shock. The “sam-wich” contained a raw piece of meat, the smell of slaughter still fresh and overpowering. It took everything in my power not to recoil in disgust. The first Lord of War seem puzzled. “You can smell that all the way over here?” “You can't?” It shrugged, gesturing me to follow. As I followed, the smell of blood never went away. Deep and primal, it only seemed to grow stronger as we left the starpad. Then I realized the smell hadn't come from the food, but from the Lord of War. The raised the hair above one of its eyes.“You alright?” “Are you injured?” “Huh?” “You smell like blood, like you're dying.” “Uh...okay? I've had a mouth ulcer for the last two days, so that's been fun.” How was he still walking? Ulcers come with debilitating pain! They required bedrest, and medication, and-- “Well, in any case, the vote isn't until tomorrow. You're a reporter, right? I'm gonna have to set you up with a pass so they'll let you into the Imperial Palace.” I simply nodded, eager to change the subject to my original mission. I was to observe and report a vote held by the Lords of War. From what I understood, their governments would decide on whether or not to unify. In such a case, the emperor of the serpent Lords of War would become the ceremonial monarch of the United Empire, the proposed name for the union government. Then I noticed the flags, and their colors made me recoil. They were fluttering everywhere; Some of the flags were light blue, the color of blood, and their slow waves in the wind made them seem like beasts in its death-throes. Some flags carried the color black, the color of curses, ill omens, and defiance of The Two. But most plentiful was a flag that carried the symbols of both flags, to signify their union. I shuddered to think that they placed all these flags to intimidate me. The Lord of War saw I was staring at the flags, but didn't seem to pick up on my fear. “Yeah, everyone's all patriotic today. Jesus, there's going to be paper graffiti everywhere tomorrow.” “I don't understand.” “Well, you know, big party after the vote. No way it won't pass.” The rest of the travel away from the starpad was uneventful; I tried my best to ignore the blood-flags and blood-stench. The mammal Lord of War called a public transport for me when we made it to the streets; it hovered next to me and opened, and there was another mammalian Lord of War. “Hop on in,” it said. I complied, not wishing to invoke its anger. As we hovered past the glimmering golden buildings, it tried to strike up conversation. “So you're a reporter, huh?” I was too fixated on the Lord's hand to realize it had asked me something. Its right hand was wrapped in white cloth, stained red. The smell of death was absolute. "Your hand,” I blurted. It held up the disfigured appendage and laughed. Laughed. “Oh yeah, I cut my hand trying to open a box. I'd use medi-spray, but I'm allergic to the stuff, so, you know, bandages.” I swiftly looked away, only to be met with more blood, this time, in the form of advertisments. One ad openly advertised the sale of weapons, as if they were commonplace. By this time I had ceased speaking entirely, as every time I opened my mouth, it seemed to only invite another appearance of blood. We landed on one of the Imperial Palace's many outer starpads. I quickly paid the pilot and left, eager to simply be done with the ceremony I was to record and leave. As I walked toward one of the entrances, a massive transport flew overhead. It was white, adorned with gold trimmings, and slowly sat down on one of the starpads on the lower level. A nearby mammal Lord pointed. “That the emperor?” The serpent Lord of War it was conversing with shook its feathered head. “Nah. The emperor's is way bigger. Definitely one the imperial bloodline, though.” “Hm. Okay, speaking of blood; so, the emperor's got to sign the document with his blood?” “Yeah, to recognize the treaty as unbreakable. Like I said, it's only been done twice before.” “It's still pretty fucking metal.” Singing a treaty! In blood! I stumbled, becoming dizzy. These Lords of War waded in blood every damn day! “Blood meat! Blood treaties! Blood talk! Blood EVERYTHING!” I wailed, and lost my balance. I hit the side of the railing, grabbing onto it for support. In my haste to get away from the Blood Lords, I climbed over the railing, expecting solid ground. But I only found air. As I tumbled down, the darkness overtook me. Slowly, slowly... Thump. __________________________________________________________________ HALSHAA IMPERIAL NEWS: MIIN DIVEBOMBS MEMBER OF IMPERIAL FAMILY A diplomatic incident (and accident) occurred today at the Imperial Palace, when the alien ambassador known as Vishtsook Vik Vish Nirashrnin Kithil crawled over the upper railing just as Imperial Prince Valka was exiting his transport, falling and landing on top of him from over two stories. Witnesses claim Kithil suffered a nervous breakdown at the scene, and security shows the ambassador seemingly scrambling over the railing in order to escape. Kithil was immediately taken to the emergency room for a broken wing, but luckily, Imperial Prince Valka suffered only a few bruises, and is expected to be present at the vote on the Treaty of Union tomorrow evening. Valka issued a statement, saying he does not blame Kithil for the accident, and has pledged that the Empire will cover all the medical expenses for the ambassador, who is now currently residing at the Sacred Blood Hospital.